E2112: Randomized Phase III Trial of Endocrine Therapy Plus Entinostat or Placebo in Hormone Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer. A Trial of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group

J Clin Oncol. 2021 Oct 1;39(28):3171-3181. doi: 10.1200/JCO.21.00944. Epub 2021 Aug 6.

Abstract

Purpose: Endocrine therapy resistance in advanced breast cancer remains a significant clinical problem that may be overcome with the use of histone deacetylase inhibitors such as entinostat. The ENCORE301 phase II study reported improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) with the addition of entinostat to the steroidal aromatase inhibitor (AI) exemestane in advanced hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer.

Patients and methods: E2112 is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III study that enrolled men or women with advanced HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer whose disease progressed after nonsteroidal AI. Participants were randomly assigned to exemestane 25 mg by mouth once daily and entinostat (EE) or placebo (EP) 5 mg by mouth once weekly. Primary end points were PFS by central review and OS. Secondary end points included safety, objective response rate, and lysine acetylation change in peripheral blood mononuclear cells between baseline and cycle 1 day 15.

Results: Six hundred eight patients were randomly assigned during March 2014-October 2018. Median age was 63 years (range 29-91), 60% had visceral disease, and 84% had progressed after nonsteroidal AI in metastatic setting. Previous treatments included chemotherapy (60%), fulvestrant (30%), and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (35%). Most common grade 3 and 4 adverse events in the EE arm included neutropenia (20%), hypophosphatemia (14%), anemia (8%), leukopenia (6%), fatigue (4%), diarrhea (4%), and thrombocytopenia (3%). Median PFS was 3.3 months (EE) versus 3.1 months (EP; hazard ratio = 0.87; 95% CI, 0.67 to 1.13; P = .30). Median OS was 23.4 months (EE) versus 21.7 months (EP; hazard ratio = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.82 to 1.21; P = .94). Objective response rate was 5.8% (EE) and 5.6% (EP). Pharmacodynamic analysis confirmed target inhibition in entinostat-treated patients.

Conclusion: The combination of exemestane and entinostat did not improve survival in AI-resistant advanced HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02115282.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial, Phase III
  • Multicenter Study
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / chemistry
  • Adenocarcinoma / drug therapy*
  • Adenocarcinoma / mortality
  • Adenocarcinoma / secondary
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Androstadienes / administration & dosage*
  • Androstadienes / adverse effects
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / administration & dosage*
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / adverse effects
  • Aromatase Inhibitors / administration & dosage*
  • Aromatase Inhibitors / adverse effects
  • Benzamides / administration & dosage*
  • Benzamides / adverse effects
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / analysis
  • Breast Neoplasms / chemistry
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Breast Neoplasms / mortality
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Breast Neoplasms, Male / chemistry
  • Breast Neoplasms, Male / drug therapy
  • Breast Neoplasms, Male / mortality
  • Breast Neoplasms, Male / pathology
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Drug Administration Schedule
  • Female
  • Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors / administration & dosage*
  • Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors / adverse effects
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Progression-Free Survival
  • Pyridines / administration & dosage*
  • Pyridines / adverse effects
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / analysis
  • Receptors, Estrogen / analysis
  • Receptors, Progesterone / analysis
  • South Africa
  • Time Factors
  • United States

Substances

  • Androstadienes
  • Aromatase Inhibitors
  • Benzamides
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors
  • Pyridines
  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Receptors, Progesterone
  • entinostat
  • ERBB2 protein, human
  • Receptor, ErbB-2
  • exemestane

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT02115282